Training & Nutrition - What to do in the gym?

Hey,

I'm a city-road biker who is new to the scene and would like to step up my performance. I visit the gym (fully equipped w/ weight machines, free weights, stretching area, stationaries) daily, and would like to focus my efforts to biking. My goals are to improve hill climbing, prepare for an all-day ride, and just general bicycle toning.

What exercises / training drills do you guys recommend?

Thanks,
Mitch

I'm a long-time racer with access to a full-zoot gym.

The things I end up using are:
- the big barbell for lunges and deadlifts.
- the squat rack for heavy squats and lunges
- the roman chair for back extensions
- the (I forget what it's called) where you hang by your elbows and do leg lifts / crunches
- the ankle harness / pulley weights for hip / leg lift
- the swiss ball for core work
- sometimes I'll take a class if there are a lot of hotties in it. I mean, training should be fun, right?

In general, I just do lots of different core work, calisthenics, and basic leg and back work (squats, lunges, dead lifts etc.) Really there's nothing that I couldn't do at home.

Sweat all over the equipment without toweling it off.



Actually- I don't go to a gym.

My goals are to improve hill climbing, prepare for an all-day ride, and just general bicycle toning.

The evidence is pretty much stacked against gym work improving your cycling. That said lifting can help w injury prevention by addressing muscle imbalances built up through too much cycling. I definitely feel imbalanced after a season of 10k miles and 600 hours.

Lifting can also help stave of lean muscle loss for Masters racers as they approach 50 and beyond. The last study I read said that on average men over 50 lose 1.5 pounds of lean muscle mass, and this can be minimized by doing weight bearing exercises (which cycling is not).

Therefore I do squats, lunges and leg lifts w light weights 2-3 times a week in the off-season, a bit of upper body, but most of my "gym" work (done at home) is focused on core work. This is where I think you can really help your climbing.

Beyond that I'd say what's worked for me is ridng my bike (lots), and using various cadence changes to improve climbing. Of course it doesn't hurt to live in a climate where you can ride all year round. If I lived in a cold weather climate I'd probably use the trainer to simulate climbs w various cadence changes (70-90 rpms).

Hope that helps.

I tried some personal training once that centered around weight lifting. It did help my overall muscular fitness. But it did not do a dern for my cycling.

Cycling generally improves with ..... cycling. The more cycling the better within limits of course. Short of that, getting regular aerobic exercise helps.

The evidence is pretty much stacked against gym work improving your cycling.

Then why do so many coaching books recommend it?

Lifting has some direct benefit to cycling, but probably only for a small percentage of people - those who are at a certain level already or involved in certain disciplines(think track racers). The other 95% of us would just do better to ride our bikes with more specificity. Core work and lifting to prevent injury are worthwhile as well.

The evidence is pretty much stacked against gym work improving your cycling.

Two words: Lance lifts.








But maybe I'm biased. I'm a track racer so lifting is almost mandatory for me.

Then why do so many coaching books recommend it?

Coaches who agree with the latest conventional wisdom recommend lifting for the reasons I stated in my post (injury prevention adn adressing muscular imbalance), but the latest research pretty much shows that you aren't going to see improvements in most ranges of the power spectrum through weight work.

I do agree that short duration track athetes are probably the exception to this rule, but the OP said that he wanted to improve his climbing, not his match sprint.

Two words: Lance lifts. But maybe I'm biased. I'm a track racer so lifting is almost mandatory for me.

Not sure why he lifts but my guess would be for the reasons stated before around adressing muscular imbalance. That said the bulk of Lance's program (being circulated on various cycling forums) is built around serious Endo, Tempo, and FTP work, with a focus on raising his FTP and lowering his weight to drive his w/kg number sky high. Supposedly he'll spend most of his time going forward on the road, not in the gym.

Again, as a track rider YMMV in regards to the benefits of weight training, but the OP said he was looking to improve his climbing.

Well I'd be inclined to agree because climbing for extended periods of time is more cardio than anything... short, steep climbs though, I'd say weight training would help. One thing that me and my teammate did that helped a lot on the track was find a short steep hill, ride it over geared (53x16 and then 53x15) and basically climb it from a standstill on the incline, focusing on being explosive and powerful in the movements to get up. We called this "weight training on a bike", which makes sense if you think about it.

I don't think anyone can really say with out knowing what the OP's issue is with the climbs

ie. are they not able to finish off long climbs.... in this case it is probably more of a cardio issue

or do they have no issue with long shallow clmbs but short steeps ones where power comes into play a bit more they fall short.

that being said gym strength doesn't always translate well to cycling strength.. cycling is an aerobic activity generally speaking while weights is more anaerobic.

my goal for this season getting more fit and improving my cv system but next year I will be experimenting with strength and endurance work in the gym....I think will translate well

Not sure why he lifts but my guess would be for the reasons stated before around adressing muscular imbalance. That said the bulk of Lance's program (being circulated on various cycling forums) is built around serious Endo, Tempo, and FTP work, with a focus on raising his FTP and lowering his weight to drive his w/kg number sky high. Supposedly he'll spend most of his time going forward on the road, not in the gym.

Again, as a track rider YMMV in regards to the benefits of weight training, but the OP said he was looking to improve his climbing.

The Chris Carmichael book explains the full weight lifting regimen.

... do better to ride our bikes with more specificity.

"Cycling to improve cycling" is a topic most people mentioned; so what specific rides should I plan (time, cadence, frequency of incline)?

Thanks for everyone's response,
Mitch

Try organising your aerobic training. There are a number of things cyclists are supposed to do, like intervals. I must confess I am rather bad about that and spend winter pedaling mindlessly to movies like Matrix. My bad.

I also use a rower, and that is my intervals. My muscles can pull like crazy, there just isn't enough air. If your gym has a rower, learning to use it would be a great idea.

I also lift. I think it helps a recreational cyclist. Your muscles are more efficient when they are further away from their peak output. Anyway, making the legs strong seems to help me in the hills. But just a little.

I just plain like gyms.

As far as riding outside goes... I borrow a trick from my hiking days. 2 or 3 times a month in the summer we do a climb, and each time we find a bigger hill.

Doing the climb twice is also good.

For my lower body I warm on a nautilis squat machine that's really a leg press. I then do partial squats (bad knees), dead lifts, hyperextensions, crunches, abductor and adductor exercise. I start the session with walking on a incline treadmill, gradually increasing the incline until the legs and hips are getting some work.

Get someone to show you how to do the exercises the right way. It is far to easy to mess up and hurt yourself.
If you are young, ignore this, but I don't think lunges are a good idea. You can work all of this muscles harder with other exercises that won't stress the knee as much.

"Cycling to improve cycling" is a topic most people mentioned; so what specific rides should I plan (time, cadence, frequency of incline)?

Thanks for everyone's response,
Mitch

Friel's Cyclist's Training Bible can help you determine weaknesses and decide how to work on them. Since you already know that climbing is a weakness, you want to do workouts that simulate the stresses of climbing...you also want to work out at a variety of cadences. Try something like finding a not-too-steep 1/2 mile hill - warm up, then spin up it at 90-100rpm. Turn around and soft pedal down, then switch to a gear that allows you to climb it at 60-70rpm. Concentrate on being smooth and consistent. Repeat several times alternating cadences. Do that twice a week on just ride normally on other days.
A google search should help you find some other workout options.

The evidence is pretty much stacked against gym work improving your cycling. That said lifting can help w injury prevention by addressing muscle imbalances built up through too much cycling. .

No. Lifting does improve cycling. A lot if done right. My heyday in MTB racing was when I could lift the most weight. As I have relaxed my lifting my speeds and climbing power have dropped. Comparatively, I could squat over 500 back then, now I don't go over about 325 and at the end of a power cycles could possibly max out around 365-385.

Yes. It does help prevent problems associated with imbalances.

I tried lifting and did not get any improvement on the bike. Riding more hills made my cycling much better.

No. Lifting does improve cycling. A lot if done right. My heyday in MTB racing was when I could lift the most weight.

OK, this is going to sound obnoxious, so I apologize in advance if it does, that is not my intent. Your experience and results are based on a sample of 1, or put differently, aren't scientific. My point is studies have been done, with proper controls, that show that weight training does not improve power across most of the power spectrum (short duration track events being the exception).

That said a number of top coaches, includuing one that I personally have a profound respect for (Hunter Allen) advocate weight training and he does feel that weight training will improve your sprint, 1 min, 5 min, and one hour power.

I guess it depends on who's research/anectodatal evidence you want to believe. As I said before I weight train in the off-season for various reasons (lean muscle mass maintenance and to address muscular imbalance), but not to improve power.

While I've not seen weight training impact my power output, I can draw a direct correlation between training on the bike with increases in my 1, 5, and 60 minute power. But to turn my own obnoxious comment on myself, I am a sample of 1 as well, so my experience is only that, my experience, and my opinion.

As I said before I weight train in the off-season for various reasons (lean muscle mass maintenance and to address muscular imbalance), but not to improve power.

Are you finding symmetry imbalances or are you talking upper/lower body imbalances?

For me it's imbalances in both my upper and lower body. I find that I tend to let my upper body atropy during race season, so this needs "upgrading" in the off season. I don't get carried away but various curls, bench presses, rows et al 2-3 times a week seems to do the trick.

Insofar as lower body is concerned I tend to over-activate my quads, and under-activate my hamstrings when I'm putting in the big miles and racing. So doing squats, lunges, and hamstring curls helps. Plus I play ice hockey once a week which gets me off the bike and activates supporting lower body muscles.

Core work I do all year long which includes a few different pilates exercises and crunches. Although I have no scientifc evidence to prove it, I think the core work HAS improved my ability to generate power, especially on climbs. Must be a placebo effect!

Yeah that seems pretty standard. My upper seems to atrophy too. I could probably lift enough to slow it down, but who has the time/energy in race season? I started lifting to put on a little defintion, but mainly protect my shoulders in the event of a crash. After having to rehab a rotator cuff, I figured it was better to protect the shoulders than rehab them.

Rowing is a great off season exercise. It's aerobic, builds up your arms and shoulders some, even gives your core some exercise.

I use an indoor trainer and a slide board,and do some hoop/dancing,yea, i know but it's great for the hips,also this winter im doing this(http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/200801/wellness-fitness-anywhere-trx.html) this thing is cool and it gives me the vareity im looking for to hang in all winter,it's a plan and i think it will work for me.

Here's a post I wrote on the subject:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=379650

This year I'm trying something completely different. I'll report if and when it shows results.

interesting post CFB. Can you quantify your results(ie w/kg gained) in the off season? Why are you changing your program this year and how is it different?

No. Lifting does improve cycling. A lot if done right. My heyday in MTB racing was when I could lift the most weight. As I have relaxed my lifting my speeds and climbing power have dropped. Comparatively, I could squat over 500 back then, now I don't go over about 325 and at the end of a power cycles could possibly max out around 365-385.

Yes. It does help prevent problems associated with imbalances.

Cite a study showing that. All the latest studies say weight lifting does nothing to help performance, execpt for track type sprinting

I'm a long-time racer with access to a full-zoot gym.

The things I end up using are:
- the big barbell for lunges and deadlifts.
- the squat rack for heavy squats and lunges
- the roman chair for back extensions
- the (I forget what it's called) where you hang by your elbows and do leg lifts / crunches
- the ankle harness / pulley weights for hip / leg lift
- the swiss ball for core work
- sometimes I'll take a class if there are a lot of hotties in it. I mean, training should be fun, right?

In general, I just do lots of different core work, calisthenics, and basic leg and back work (squats, lunges, dead lifts etc.) Really there's nothing that I couldn't do at home.

That's some good advice right there. Or at least, that's what I'd recommend doing :)

And I think the "forget what it's called" is usually referred to as a "captain's chair."

Cite a study showing that. All the latest studies say weight lifting does nothing to help performance, execpt for track type sprintingRead the links in my post above yours.

interesting post CFB. Can you quantify your results(ie w/kg gained) in the off season? Why are you changing your program this year and how is it different?No, sorry. I don't have a power meter. But I've been riding with the same group for over a decade, so I always know where I am in the climbing order! I try different things and see how I stack up. I'm not a Real Climber - more of a sprinter - but climbing is what we do.

I'm changing just for the sake of changing. Felt like I was stale. This year I'm leading a series of single speed rides. I use my regular road bike and just don't shift. We are working up to climbing all the hills that we climbed on geared bikes, including climbs that we did standing in our grannies. So this is sort of weight lifting on the bike. After a mile or so of 34 cadence at LT, mixed sitting and standing, it feels like I've been in the weight room all afternoon. Note this is not fixed gear riding. I think SS is better. We can do our full 50-60 mile winter rides on SS, no problem.

The other different thing is that I've been captaining a tandem, also on hilly rides, and trying to take the energy and training load that I was expending in the weight room, and putting it on the bike instead, since I'm already "weight training" on the SS rides. Tandeming is a completely different way to load the legs, I think because a tandem doesn't accelerate when you push on the pedals like a single does. Maybe if you had two riders of identical ability and well synchronized. But that's not why most people ride a tandem. So I'm getting some additional strength training on the tandem.

This is such a weird country. When my wife and I ride the tandem, everyone smiles. But when I ride with a male buddy, all we get is nasty comments. I think other guys are just jealous of how good we cyclists can look in Lycra!

Anyway, I'll see how my climbing times, cogs, and cadence compare next year to what I've usually done. The jury is out.

Read the links in my post above yours.

I had a chance to read through your post on weight training. Nice post. Congratulations on the results, especially improving your climbing.

In reading your post what struck me was that your gains came mostly from high intesity training or HIT (makes sense as you're pulling up your FTP through vo2 max or Coggan L5 efforts); and from cutting back on strength training and adding more aerobic efforts (ie, time on the bike).

Given that how can you attribute your improved performance to weight training and not to adding more time on the bike or to the HIT sessions?

Maybe I read it wrong. Thanks.

I had a chance to read through your post on weight training. Nice post. Congratulations on the results, especially improving your climbing.

In reading your post what struck me was that your gains came mostly from high intesity training or HIT (makes sense as you're pulling up your FTP through vo2 max or Coggan L5 efforts); and from cutting back on strength training and adding more aerobic efforts (ie, time on the bike).

Given that how can you attribute your improved performance to weight training and not to adding more time on the bike or to the HIT sessions?

Maybe I read it wrong. Thanks.It's hard to know. The worst subject from which to draw inferences is the single self-coached athlete. There are so many variables. I'm guessing that there were performance gains from weight training because the type of weight training I use means cutting back on the bike time or on intervals on the bike. If I simply add HI weight training, I overtrain quite quickly. There's a limit to how much HIT my body will absorb, and both that type of weight training and on-bike intervals are HIT. Spinning uphill at LT and 80 cadence doesn't develop the leg strength like weight training, though it is far, far better for developing aerobic ability.

I'm guessing that I do better with both types of training. What I'm trying this winter is sort of the same thing. High intensity weight training, using a SS bike instead of gym equipment, might just create more cycling specific leg strength. A disadvantage of the SS bike is that it's difficult to exercise to failure. Hills end, and walking the rest of the way is no fun. It also seems possible to break cranks and tear up bottom brackets. I'll know more in March.